The third world
by Luce Waters
Summary: After their death, Augustus and Tris meet in a new world and try to figure out together what is this place . It happens to be a really strange world and quite dangerous...
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone ! Please be indulgent because first I am French so not this good in English and second this is my first fanfiction ever ! Anyway, enjoy ! **

Augustus died eight days after. Well,he didn't really just disappear but fell into a new world, all clean but not empty: it was like another town, with other people in it, that seemed quite happy. He stood up and noticed he had two legs: like two real legs! Astonished , he didn't see the girl coming behind him , asking:"sorry, I'm tris, where are we exactly ?" She was Hazel Grace.

Tris thought she would join her parents, her friends that she had lost, like Will, but she didn't. She fell in a desert of sand. Quite dizzy of the fall, she stayed on the ground a bit, then stood up and tried to choose a way: right, left, everywhere was just sand, sand and sand ! She chose quickly to just go in front of her, and she walked hours but she was neither tired nor thirsty so she kept going until she bumped into a tall guy, quite muscular, she excused herself and then asked where she was, since she could see a village a few meters away. The boy turned around and it was Caleb.

Augustus just jumped back when he recognised her: what was she doing here? "Hazel!" He said. "Actually my name is Tris, Tris Prior, and I guess you are...?" Umm I'm Augustus, Augustus Waters and I don't have any clue about where we could be" " then let's find out!" The girl said, while she headed for the village. He decided to follow her, since she seemed to be as lost as him and was Hazel's doppelgänger. Except she didn't have a cannula and seemed to breath normally, her clothes weren't Hazel type, and most of all her attitude was completely different, but still.

They entered the village, no one seemed to care about them so they just tried to ask someone but nobody stopped until they decided to ask in a shop.

They chose a little bookshop, where a little fat woman told them the village was called Intervita and then, a bit curious asked where were they from but no response came, the girl just got out and Gus, a little hesitant, followed her after apologising, god that girl was weird !

Tris didn't recognise the name of the village, so the information didn't help her. The boy kept following her. Even so he looked like Caleb, he wasn't him, she could tell: he didn't have his guilty look or any resemblance except physical and he had called her Hazel! Who was she ? Tris put aside her curiosity and focused on her problem: how did she get here.? The boy, Augustus, had appeared next to her and asked " So, I guess we're in the same situation, we just, appeared ! What are we gonna do ? "

"I guess we are in a sort of heaven"

"Well, I never imagined it like that, if they were dead, do people would keep working, and eating ?" He said, pointing at a little girl, biting a sandwich.

"Well, since I got here I am not thirsty or hungry..."

"So I assume we aren't like them"

The first thing Augustus asked is to go buy some cigarettes, whatever it was, but they didn't have any money so they just kept walking, talking a bit about everything, until she couldn't stop herself and asked :

\- Who's Hazel?

-What?

\- You said her name when you saw me, so , who is she ?

\- It is quite complicated...

-We have a lot of time .

\- She is, or was my this word isn't enough to describe her: she was the funniest and the best person I have ever known and I may never see her again and it hurts, god it hurts! After an awkward silence, she eventually asked:

\- So, why did you say her name?

\- Well, it is kind of weird but you look a bit like her, well not a bit you are her exact replica actually!

\- Isn't everyone supposed to be unique ? She said. She couldn't completely trust that guy, even if he seemed really honest she couldn't tell him about Caleb and how he was his double too, she just couldn't think about him anyway, and think about all the others, about Tobias that she had kind of betrayed when she gave her life for her brother, when her selflessness and bravery really paid, she would never see him again, or years from now maybe when he will have grey hair and even if, she wasn't sure he would get here, it didn't seem to be the usual way out of life . But she had to focus, to learn about her new companion, because he wasn't going to leave her anyway and to learn about this place. Everyone seemed normal, living, they weren't zombies or anything, so what were they ?

\- I guess but you're the proof this isn't true ! He replied, miles from her.

Facing this lack of reaction he stopped, in front of her :

\- Can I ask you, taking on count this is already one, two questions?

-Okay, she answered out of her daze.

-Okay he said

-Okay she said back

He paused to smile, a real smile that took all his face and then ,more serious asked:

-You don't have to answer because it is quite personal but, before you got here, did you have any breathing problems, like a... Let's say lung cancer ?

\- What is that ?!

\- You don't know what cancer is ?

\- Does it even exist ?

\- I can tell you it does ! He said, angrily

\- Sorry, just tell me what it is...

\- Never mind, one last question, harder one: how did you die?

At this exact moment Tris decided to trust this strange guy who knew her double and answered

\- I got shot

And he just stared right into her eyes, then nodded and kept walking.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone ! Here is chapter two ! Enjoy !**

Augustus certainly never imagined this answer ! She got shot ! How? Why? When? He just couldn't ask her, it was too much. So they just kept walking, in silence while Augustus was trying to swallow the information down. The sun was going down and they needed to find a place to sleep, but there weren't that many solutions: they had two actually: number one sleep outside and in the sandy ground.

Number two ask hospitality to a stranger. But strangely, the dilemma sounded easier than it was : While Tris wanted to sleep in the sand, Augustus only wanted an,even foreign, bed. After arguing for 10 minutes Gus won and they knocked on the door of a rich looking house. Nobody came. They knocked again. They heard footsteps coming and a tall and skinny woman opened the door, and looked at them, obviously waiting for them to explain the reason why she was being disturbed by two lost teenagers . Augustus spoke first:

\- Hi ma'am, sorry to disturb you this late but we're here to discuss the possibility of you having a bed or anything to sleep in , to lend us for the night?

By the angry look the woman gave him, he saw that the Waters charisma hadn't worked on her. Tris gave it a try :

-My name is Beatrice, this is Augustus, my brother. We were just walking when we got a bit lost and now we're far from home so we'd like to know if you'd let us stay for the night, please ? The Tris version worked better, the woman smiled and exclaimed :

\- Oh! Of course! Come in, we have a spare bedroom and we'll call your parents tomorrow if you want ?

\- Thank you so much ! She said, before walking in. Augustus was impressed, this girl who didn't seem really open just completely changed before his eyes : she lied so easily: could he trust her ?

They walked through a large hallway which was essentially made of wood and decorated with landscape paintings, took the stairs and ended up in a bedroom. It was quite large, the walls were painted in an ochre shade and, luckily, there were two single beds.

-The bathroom is next door and, if you'll do me the pleasure of taking breakfast with me, the kitchen is downstairs, good night !

The situation had quite changed : they were in a big house, in a perfectly clean bedroom and the only thing Augustus wanted to do was sleep... Well it's what he was suppose to want since it was quite late but actually he wasn't tired... He just wasn't !

After trying to fall asleep for an hour he figured out he wouldn't and got up. Then he jumped back when Tris said :

\- We aren't hungry, thirsty plus tired ! I am adding this to the list of weird things happening to us !

\- Well, I think that the strangest is just the fact that we are here, is this even possible ?

\- Obviously it is! Do you want to do a tour of the house ?

\- Are you sure it is a good idea ? What if someone finds us ?

\- We'll just pretend we're looking for the lavatory or something but don't worry, they are asleep !

\- I guess let's go then !

They got out of the room as quietly as they could and went house was sleepy, everything was silent. They found the living room, with an old chimney and a huge red sofa ! But there was nothing interesting so they went upstairs, to the second floor. They emerged in the attic, all dusty and full of old things, like any other attic. They were going to back away when something caught Tris' attention : a big blue box: she opened it and it was full of papers, official papers. It was really getting boring when she stopped herself from screaming, she handed him the paper, an administrative document seeming normal until he read "population of Intervita : 5000 living, 444 dead-comers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is chapter 3, where there is not much happening, sorry! But enjoy ! **

" Dead comers? What were they? Was it the explanation of their presence here ?

Augustus heard a sound, footsteps. He whispered to Tris : "we have to hide, now!"

She nodded, turned off the light and they knelt behind some boxes. A few minutes later, their host, wearing purple pyjamas, opened the door, lit the room. She looked around and, seeing nothing suspect, went back downstairs. They waited a few minutes and decided to go back to their room. When they got there, a talk was necessary.

-Tris, do you think we are... Dead comers?

-It is the most logical explanation, yes, but that is not the most important: we are not the only ones, there are 450 people like us in this single town ! We haven't noticed, I thought we were an exception!

-So are we going to re live here until we die again, are we going to live forever, or are we going to stay for a few days and then we'll just disappear ? How is it possible !?

-Calm down, there is no way we'll find out now, the most important is: if they have classified different types of people, I think this means we are not welcome here : people fear and hate what they don't understand .

\- True, but aren't you being a bit paranoid?

\- Any society hates difference, I know it too well.

\- So you think we should hide it ?

\- For now, yes.

\- So, we'll have to eat for breakfast.

The morning, they got up at seven, showered quickly in the bathroom which was huge and all blue, in mosaics, and went downstairs to join their host.

They haven't been to the kitchen during the night so it explains their stupor when they saw it: it just wasn't a kitchen. Everything was unknown for them : there was a tall and large thing, like a cupboard that was glowing green and another strange thing, smaller was shining and doing weird sounds. Only the table and the chairs seemed normal, just really modern, all white. Trying to hide their surprise, they said good morning to the woman, who had changed clothes and was now wearing a beige skirt with a white and quite strict shirt. When she took a huge brioche out of the green cupboard, they guessed it was a sort of oven, but the shining thing was still a mystery . They still weren't hungry but the food seemed so delicious that they ate anyway, under the gaze of the woman, watching every one of their movements. After a few minutes, she finally asked " Did you sleep well?" "Very well thank you, your house is just so lovely! What about you ?" said Tris quickly, always so charmingly.

"Well, I was until I heard a sound and got up but there was nothing! Except this, I slept very well, thank you!" "We haven't heard a sound." Said Augustus and then the silence came back, even more awkward. It staid until the end of breakfast, after which they left the house, having previously thanked the woman and declined her offer to call their parents. They were back onto the street, where they had to find the reason of their presence, plus the questions about the furnitures in the kitchen.

They started to walk again, this time in the direction of the centre of the town, where there would be more people and so more answers. They started to talk:

\- Did you recognise this green machine, in the kitchen? Started Augustus

\- No I had never seen one before ! But it seemed to work like a oven.

-Yes but it didn't look like one at all!

\- It must be a really advanced technology then.

\- To me, it looked like a futuristic cupboard.

-Wait, what ?!

\- I said it looked like a futuristic cupboard.

\- Hold on, do you think we might be... in the future ?

\- This is completely crazy...

\- But it might be it, we asked where were we, why and how, but we never thought about when !

\- Here's another mystery ! You seem to like it ...

At that, Tris didn't answer. All she was trying to do is distract herself from the terrible reality, she may never see her friends again, or Tobias and she hadn't met her parents here,as she expected. The vision of her mother welcoming her might have just been a hallucination, due to pain. She didn't know if she was supposed to be grateful to the person that had decided her fate or if she would have preferred to really die and go wherever she was supposed to. But anyway, she didn't have a choice, just accept it and to do so, she had to understand.

But it was hard to stay strong without Tobias at her side, pushing her to be selfless and brave. No one would ever be able to replace him. Ever. But for now, she had the growing feeling that, being with Augustus, she had a friend. The fact that he was Caleb's double helped a bit, traitor or not.

While she was thinking, they had entered the centre of the city. And it was huge! The countryside around it they had first seen looked pale in comparison. Now, they were sure to be in some futuristic place, the glass buildings went up in the sky , a few skyscrapers were trying to defy the Everest , all sculpted sharply. The still sandy ground didn't seem right in this setting.

Augustus stopped his jaw from dropping. This was just unbelievable ! This architecture was impossible ! But as he was seeing it, it wasn't really . They were in the future . He pinched himself to check if he was hallucinating but it was real. He just couldn't take it. This was too much. Tris seemed choked too, but not in the same way, she was admiring the buildings, with a look of awe. Gus couldn't act like this now, even if he had wanted to. He just wanted his life back, playing video games with Isaac and being with Hazel. When she'll pass away, we'll she come here ? Did he have any chance to see her again ? Being with the only love of his life replica was quite disturbing but they were completely different. This girl was more violent and seemed to come... To come from another time. She didn't have the same way of thinking than Hazel, was suspicious of everyone and, strangest of all, she didn't know what cigarettes were ! At first he had just assumed they were from the same time but it may not be right. Anyway, something had struck him since he met her, she had the same look as Hazel, the exact same one that he was in love with. This was definitely disturbing.

He was taken out of his thoughts by Tris, hitting him slightly with her elbow. A man was walking towards them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone ! Sorry this chapter is a bit short but I will update in two days ! Enjoy :) **

The man was quite tall, his hair greyish and was wearing a dark suit . He was smiling but seemed surprised at the same time.

"I know you" he said, pointing at Tris.

"Well, I don't" she said, defensively.

Augustus was looking back and forth between Tris and the man. He wasn't sure she was telling the truth.

"Don't you, though?" The stranger said, still smiling .

"I would remember"

"Weren't you from Abnegation ? "

" I don't know what you are talking about, could you just, please, go away ? "

" Okay, but keep my address, if you get a few memories back" he said, holding out a card. Tris didn't take it so Augustus did, curious.

The man smiled at him even more, grateful, turned away and, as if he had forgotten something came back to whisper in Augustus' ear:"I am like you, if you want to understand, come to the address, tonight." Then he really went away, without looking back.

Tris and him didn't talk for a few hours, she really didn't seem to be well, as if this meeting had traumatised her.

They were kind of visiting the city, noticing every difference and similarities there were between this town and any other one they knew, from their original life. They stopped in a park after that and sat on a bench. Augustus broke the silence that was growing : " I guess you don't want to come, but I will, whoever this man is, I just want to understand why we are here."

She didn't answer.

"You know him, don't you? He is from the same time as you ? "

" What are you talking about ? Time ?"

" I thought you had already figured this out, since we are completely different, I assumed we weren't from the same time" plus I can't imagine two exact same people at the same time, two Hazels, he thought but he couldn't say it out loud, it was too hurtful.

"There is something I haven't told you..." She answered, avoiding the question,"I know your double too."

"What? " Gus' jaw dropped.

" He was, well he is my" she swallowed and then finished: "my brother, Caleb"

Augustus thoughts were racing, if she knew his double as well, maybe their meeting was planned, maybe something was supposed to happen, maybe there were a meaning to all of this. But he just couldn't see what, it was not simple.

Tris obviously needed to talk "He was supposed to do it but it just didn't seem right, he wasn't doing it for the right reason anyway, and I couldn't let him, I just couldn't ! And maybe I would have survived, I would have survived the serum and come back to Tobias, and everything would have been fine but no, I went there, I did it and..."

She bursted into tears and Augustus took her in his arms while she was crying . And she got shot, he thought, he didn't know why but someone killed her. A few minutes later she calmed down and said sorry but it was okay, there wasn't anything to be sorry for. And then Gus imagined if she had let her brother go, he might have got here and he would have met his double. Maybe this was what was supposed to happen. But this was only him and her now, they couldn't go back.

"I'll go with you" Tris said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone ! Here is another little chapter ! Please follow and review ! Enjoy !**

They headed for the address at 9:00. It wasn't dark yet or cold so they didn't get lost.  
They left the futuristic part of the city and walked through narrow streets and past crumbling buildings. Augustus was leading and Tris was following close behind because if she didn't she'd get lost in this labyrinth of streets! Some people, only wearing rags were begging for money or food, without any success. It reminded her of the factionless, who she was supposed to give food to when she walked past them, but she didn't have anything now, just like them.  
And then she remembered that they took control of the city and made the factions disappear, under the orders of Tobias' mother and she took a step away from the poor man near her : they were the most likely to revolt, they had nothing to loose.  
This disappointed her a bit, about this seemingly peaceful world, but it was always the same, troubles were hidden somewhere. They had just found the emerging part of the troubles iceberg, what was the hidden part ?  
At last, after an hour of walking, they entered the smaller and most repellent building they had seen. It was there ! The inside was in ruins, as if nature was slowly taking back it's rights and turning it into dirt. The floor was sandy, and the remaining sunlight was barely reaching the room. No lights were on.  
They took the stairs to the first floor, that looked better than the ground floor. It was quite clean, except for a few spider webs. Augustus stopped in front of the first door, gave Tris a questioning look, she nodded, she was ready to face this. He opened the door.

Inside, two dozen people were talking quietly. None seemed rich, which wasn't surprising in this place. They all turned silent when Augustus and her stepped in the sort of living room which only contained an old sofa, two chairs and a crumbling chimney. The place was really creepy, the situation even more so. She could recognise a few faces : an erudite : Fernando, a member of their short lasting group of insurgent who died, shot by candors under simulation, defending the erudite headquarters. She recognised a few abnegation and Mr. Oton, her history teacher they met a few hours ago and who she was pretending not to recognise, to protect herself . She guessed she was really getting paranoid. Anyway, he was the only one coming to welcome them while Fernando was looking at her and Augustus, stunned.  
" Hi again ! Welcome to my place ! Got a few memories back, Beatrice ? "  
" I guess so, Mr. Oton. And it's Tris"  
"Well, I'm happy to hear it ! Call me Andrew. So, what do you think about Intervita ? Nice place, huh ?"  
"Well, we can see it as a chance, a new start, but it has been tough until now" said Gus  
At that, Fernando got out of his daze, and asked Tris :  
\- Hi Tris, happy to see you here !  
-Happy to see you too, Fernando!  
\- I was wandering, what are you doing with this traitor, Caleb ?  
\- This isn't Caleb .  
\- It looks like him to me...  
\- Sorry to interrupt, interrupted them indeed Gus, but I think I can answer your question. I'm not Caleb, I'm Augustus Waters and it's nice to meet you!  
\- You see, it isn't Caleb, he doesn't have the same voice or this "want to know everything" erudite look.  
\- Very interesting how the physical resemblance is perfect but the expressions, and I guess, his character, are completely different .  
\- I think you're the one who will get the more pleasure answering this question ! Snapped Tris, half annoyed and half amused by this so erudite like behaviour she had almost forgotten. A small part of her world was still living here .


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone ! I'm updating, at last ! Sorry it took so long but I got exams, and then it was the holyday... But i'm doing it now ! Enjoy !**

Augustus didn't quite understand at first what was happening, and how Tris knew all of these people. They all seemed different, something about them made them not quite like the people he used to know, but he just couldn't tell what. He was looking at everyone, trying to understand what was bothering him but it was not something he could see, it was

something he could feel, it was their way of talking, thinking, their behaviour, quite like when he first saw Tris: she looked exactly like Hazel Grace but something about her immediately made him understand that she wasn't the same.

Tris was still talking with this boy who was trying to understand how he could look like Caleb, without being him.

And then, getting tired of it, she just said

\- Well, it isn't impossible if he is from the past, is it ?

\- From the past, it is impossible, do you understand what you're saying?

\- I do : he's not from the same time as us, that's all !

\- That's all ? Don't you see that everyone who is here is from our time, from Chicago or other cities that I have discovered the existence of, but from quite the same three generations! He can't be from a distant past !

\- What ? You mean everyone here is from the same time ?

\- Everyone who gets in this city or near it are from our time, yes

\- Except Augustus...

\- Except him...

Augustus felt like he had to get in the conversation, it was getting too serious

\- You mean that I know no one in this city ? I don't have any chance of meeting my parents or my girlfriend here ?

\- From what I know, no you won't ...

\- But it's unfair ! Why does existence keep putting me in situations like these ! Why can't I have a happy ending !

\- Gus, it's okay, we can make a new start here, you can make new friends, it's like a new life.

Tris tried to calm him.

But Fernando had chosen to give all the bad news at the same time:

\- Hum, not exactly...

\- What do you mean, not exactly, doesn't this mean that we have a new life here ?

\- Technically speaking, yes, we died in our world and came back to life here, without a scratch, but the reality is a bit different...

\- How different ?

\- We can't show to the other part of the population that we are different: they are scared of us, and what does a majority do when they fear a minority ?

\- They hate the minority, they isolate it, don't give it anything , say they are the reason of all their problems, and sometimes, exterminate it.

\- Well, we aren't at this last part yet but now we are responsible for all their problems: no work ? The dead comers. Everything is too expensive ? Dead comers ! Oh! And everyone calls us "dead comers" by the way , even if we prefer to be called the resurrected.

\- Resurrected ? I like it . Said Gus. Now he understood what was bothering him before: they were from the future too, another future but still a future for him.

\- But, why aren't we tired then ? Or hungry ? How are we supposed to hide it ? Or to find a home without any money ?

It's our main problem right now: we have to find jobs to earn some money but, as I said, there is no work here, and the next city is far away: the desert is taking up more and more space, in a few years, this city will have disappeared !

Oh right, global warming wasn't a joke then ! Said Augustus

Global warming ? Tris had obviously never heard of it .

It's something that was beginning in my time, the ice cap was melting and scientists were really worried about it . I guess no one found a solution . It could explain the desert " growth"

Exactly ! Fernando seemed too happy to find someone who knew scientific things, like him "I read about it back in erudite and it's getting worse : oceans are rising , countries have disappeared, drowned or replaced by sand : this world is a mess !

What is it due to ? We didn't have those problems in our Chicago !

It had calmed down because after the war the population was smaller, pollution wasn't a problem anymore: we didn't need as much power or as many cars

Wait, how do you know about the war? Asked Tris. Fernando had died before she could learn about it so how did he know ?

There are books here too, you know. Even history ones !

Right... But why did it get worse then ?

Augustus reacted before Fernando this time " Because people like us arrived"

You're right, a few years ago, resurrected started appearing here and in every city of the world, from different times. Soon, there were more than 10 billion people on earth, and I don't think it can handle more , but resurrected don't stop coming ...

How did you get this much information ? Wondered Tris

A lot via the internet, some others thanks to my job

You have a job ?

Well, yes I work near the mayor, I pretend not to be resurrected and I seek information.

Isn't it dangerous? I mean, what if they find out ?

It's worth it. I need to understand. I can't just hide, as others do and I'm not the only one, a lot of Dauntless and Erudites do the same.

Right. But you haven't found out why we are here yet ?

No one knows Tris, no one.

Then we will find out ! She decided. Augustus liked that she was so confident and that she included him in this 'we' because that's what she meant, right? Even if she didn't act like Hazel, there was something about her that he liked. Actually, he liked a lot about her. Even if he hadn't forgotten Hazel, what chances did he had to see her again anyway ? And she looked so much like her ! Gus just couldn't help but fall for this girl.


End file.
